Combining her professionalism in sports with promotion of her culture is one of the key features of the Azerbaijani figure skater Nikki Salimova who lives with her family in Calgary, Canada. In her 15 years, she’s managed to get several awards in figure skating, continuously excel in school and properly promote Azerbaijani music in front of Canadian public.

Nikki Salimova  was born in 2000 in Baku, Azerbaijan. She was only a year-and-a-half old when she moved to London with her family. Having lived in the United Kingdom for seven years, Salimovs emigrated to Canada. The North American country, famous for its winter sports became the point of departure for Nikki’s career in figure skating.

Nikki started skating at the age of 9. In less than three years she completed gold levels in all categories of figure skating. Since 2013 she got qualified for participation in Canadian Nationals Championships in ice dance two years in a row. During this time, Nikki became a novice level Alberta Sectional Silver Medallist in ice dance and the Silver Medallist in ice dance and pattern dance at 2014 Minto Competition in Ottawa.

Nikki is the first Azerbaijani who qualified and competed at Canadian National Championships and at 2015 Canada Winter Games. As part of the free-skate program for pre-novice level, her mother Mehri Salimova and Nikki chose waltz “Seven Beauties Waltz” by the great Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev. The program itself was choreographed by her coach in Calgary.

Apart from her achievements in skating, Nikki excels in school. She’s been recognized as ‘top honors with distinction’ student. Among her favorite subjects are math, biology and chemistry. She also participates in debates and regional speech tournaments. As an aspiring figure skater, Nikki works part time as Assistant Coach at Calgary Gymnastics Center training young athletes to do their best in selected sports.

In addition to her passion in figure skating, and busy schedule including school and part time work, Nikki also manages to volunteer at Salvation Army’s program to help children with low income families and other charity initiatives. Finally, she’s one of the key dancers at “Azerbaijan Heritage Dance Academy” directed by her mother in Calgary where Nikki and her friends help Azerbaijani kids learn Azerbaijani national dances. Utilizing her potential and skills in sports, Nikki Salimova promotes Azerbaijani culture and traditions at various festivals and international events.

Nikki plans to graduate from school cum laude and get admitted at a university to continue her education. She currently considers various options for universities and is particularly interested in psychology, law and science.